Qualitative Research
Exploring Social Media Ethnography: A Window into Digital Lives
Published: May 16, 2025
In a world where much of our social interaction, identity formation, and information exchange happens online, social media ethnography has emerged as a powerful method for exploring how people live, relate, and make sense of the world in virtual spaces. At its core, social media ethnography is the adaptation of traditional ethnographic practices—long-term observation, immersion in communities, and rich, qualitative description—to online platforms like TikTok, Reddit, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter). Rather than entering a physical village or institution, the researcher steps into a hashtag community, a fandom group, or a forum thread, observing how
Unlocking Stories: The Power of Narrative Inquiry
Published: January 11, 2025
In the realm of Library and Information Science (LIS), where understanding users’ experiences and behaviors is paramount, narrative inquiry emerges as a compelling research method. Rooted in the interpretive tradition of qualitative research, narrative inquiry explores how individuals construct meaning through storytelling. This method offers LIS researchers an avenue to delve deeply into users’ lived experiences, uncovering rich insights about how they seek, access, and use information.
Autoethnography: A Deeply Personal Method for Qualitative Research
Published: October 16, 2024
Autoethnography is a qualitative research method that blends elements of autobiography and ethnography to explore the researcher’s personal experiences in relation to broader social and cultural contexts. It goes beyond traditional ethnography by incorporating the researcher’s own reflections as part of the data, thereby revealing how personal stories intersect with larger social issues. This method is not only a way to collect data but also an approach that critiques the boundaries between the researcher and the researched, emphasizing subjectivity and self-reflection.
Photovoice: A Unique Participatory Research Method for Library and Information Sciences
Published: September 25th, 2024
Photovoice is an innovative research method that integrates photography and narratives to empower participants in expressing their experiences and perspectives on specific social issues. It was first introduced by Caroline Wang and Mary Ann Burris in the 1990s as a participatory action research tool, often applied in public health, education, and social science research. Participants take photographs related to the study topic, and these visuals are then used as prompts for discussion, analysis, and presentation, providing a voice to marginalized or underrepresented groups.